Mayumi Miyata

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Mayumi Miyata (宮田まゆみ; surname Miyata; b. Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese player of the shō, a traditional Japanese mouth organ. She is the most widely recorded and best internationally known soloist on this instrument.

She is a graduate of the Kunitachi College of Music, where she majored in piano. While in school, she began studying gagaku music from Ono Tadamaro of the Imperial Household Agency.

Although the shō is generally associated with Japan's ancient gagaku court music, Miyata was among the first players of the instrument to specialize in contemporary classical music. She plays a specially constructed instrument with extra pipes, allowing for the use of more chromaticism.

The American composer John Cage (1912-1992) created a number of works for Mayumi just before his death, after having met her during the 1990 Darmstadt summer course.[1] She has also premiered works by Tōru Takemitsu, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Maki Ishii, Joji Yuasa, Klaus Huber, and Toshio Hosokawa.

In 2005, she performed in three songs by the Icelandic musician Björk, for the soundtrack album to Drawing Restraint 9, a film by Björk's contemporary media artist boyfriend Matthew Barney, about Japanese culture and whaling. Miyata also appeared in the film, playing the shō in one scene.

She has performed in Japan, the United States, and Europe. Her notable students include Kō Ishikawa.